A pilot has been arrested at Edinburgh Airport in Scotland after being found to be intoxicated. The man was supposed to sit at the controls of the machine flying to New York. The pilot was questioned by the court, he pleaded not guilty.
The 62-year-old Delta Airlines pilot was arrested on the morning of June 16. As reported in a statement by the American airline employing him, the man was to sit at the controls of a plane flying from Edinburgh to New York. “Delta confirms that a member of our crew has been detained this morning. We support the services in the ongoing investigation. We apologize to customers whose flight was canceled,” ABC News said in a statement on the day of the arrest. It added that passengers were provided with replacement flights.
The circumstances of the arrest were not specified. It is also not known where exactly the pilot was detained – on board the aircraft, in the airport building or on its tarmac.
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Scotland. The pilot exceeded the alcohol limit
Scottish police said the pilot was detained under the Rail and Transport Safety Act 2003. As explained by ABC News, the document shows that the offense is committed by a person who “is performing an aviation function when the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine exceeds the prescribed limit.” In the case of exhaled air, the recommended limit is 9 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters, in the case of blood – 20 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters (approx. 0.2 per mille of alcohol in blood) – specified in the Act.
ABC News reports that the 62-year-old pilot was questioned by a court on Monday. He has pleaded not guilty and is still in custody. A spokesman for the court told the portal that the next hearing is to take place “within eight days” (from June 21 – ed.).
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